DOWNING v. SMC CORPORATION OF AMERICA

District Court, S.D. Indiana·Decided March 14, 2023·No. 1:20-cv-01954·Unknown

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF INDIANA INDIANAPOLIS DIVISION

KAREN W DOWNING, ) ) Plaintiff, ) ) v. ) No. 1:20-cv-01954-JPH-MKK ) SMC CORPORATION OF AMERICA, ) ) Defendant. )

ORDER

This matter comes before the Court on Defendant's Motion for Attorney Fees, Dkt. [139], and Defendant's Motion to Supplement Request for Attorney Fees, Dkt. [161]. For the reasons set forth below, the Motions are hereby GRANTED IN PART and DENIED IN PART. I. BACKGROUND On July 24, 2020, Plaintiff Karen Downing ("Ms. Downing"), individually and on behalf of all others similarly situated, initiated this action against SMC Corporation of America ("SMC" or "Defendant") alleging that SMC violated the Fair Labor Standards Act and the Indiana Minimum Wage Law by failing to pay overtime compensation. (Dkt. 1). Ms. Downing was employed in SMC's ISS/Claims Department ("Department") from February 2017 to September 2019. (Id. at 2). On March 26, 2018, SMC changed the payment structure for Ms. Downing and her colleagues in the ISS/Claims Department from hourly, non-exempt to salary, non-exempt. (Id. at 3-4). This resulted in these employees allegedly not being paid for all hours worked. (Id. at 4-5). During the discovery process, the parties had various disputes as to email

communications related to Plaintiff's compensation and employment – specifically, Plaintiff was interested in the email account of Ms. Christine Castille. Without the Court's permission, on February 25, 2022, Plaintiff filed a Motion to Compel Deposition of Christine Castille and Production of Christine Castille's Email Communications. (Dkt. 94). Defendant filed a response on March 11, 2022, and the Plaintiff filed a reply on March 18, 2022. (Dkts. 103, 104).

On July 11, 2022, the Court denied Plaintiff's request to compel the production of Ms. Castille's email account and the request to compel Ms. Castille's deposition. (Dkt. 138). The Court concluded that Plaintiff's motion to compel was not substantially justified and, therefore, sanctions were warranted. (Id. at 13). The Court gave Defendant 14 days to file any motion for fees related to the motion to compel. (Id.). Defendant timely filed the present Motion for Attorney Fees on July 25, 2022. (Dkt. 139). That same day, Plaintiff filed an objection to the Court's order

denying her Motion to Compel. (Dkt. 143). Given that Plaintiff's objection would require further briefing and resolution by the District Judge, Plaintiff's deadline to respond to the Motion for Attorney Fees was extended until 14 days after the Court resolved the objection. (Dkt. 148). The Court overruled Plaintiff's objection on January 5, 2023.1 (Dkt. 158).

1 The Court's ruling was signed on January 5, 2023, but not docketed or served on the parties until January 6, 2023. (Dkt. 158). On January 12, 2023, Defendant filed a Supplemental Request for Attorney Fees that requested fees for the time spent related to the motion to compel and also for the time spent in responding to Plaintiff's unsuccessful Objection to the Court's

Order denying the motion to compel. (Dkt. 161). On February 23, 2023, Plaintiff filed a combined response to both of the Defendant's pending Motions for Fees. (Dkt. 175). Defendant filed a reply brief on March 2, 2023. (Dkt. 177). At the Court's request, Plaintiff filed a surreply on March 6, 2023. (Dkt. 180). II. LEGAL STANDARD The starting point for a court's evaluation of any fee petition – including for an

award of sanctions – "is a lodestar analysis; that is, a computation of the reasonable hours expended multiplied by a reasonable hourly rate." Houston v. C.G. Sec. Servs., Inc., 820 F.3d 855, 859 (7th Cir. 2016) (quoting Divane v. Krull Elec. Co., 319 F.3d 307, 317-18 (7th Cir. 2003)); see also Gray v. U.S. Steel Corp., 284 F.R.D. 393, 397 (N.D. Ind. 2012) (applying the lodestar analysis when determining an award of sanctions for discovery violations). The party seeking the fee award bears the burden of proving the reasonableness of the hours worked and the hourly rates claimed.

Hensley v. Eckerhart, 461 U.S. 424, 433 (1983). But "[o]nce a petitioning party provides evidence of the proposed fees' reasonableness, the burden shifts to the other party to demonstrate the award's unreasonableness." Vega v. Chicago Park Dist., 12 F.4th 696, 703 (7th Cir. 2021) (quoting Wachovia Secs., LLC v. Banco Panamericano, Inc., 674 F.3d 743, 759 (7th Cir. 2012)). A party opposing a fee petition must state any objections "with particularity and clarity" in order to give the petitioner the opportunity to defend against any challenges. Hutchison v. Amateur Elec. Supply, Inc., 42 F.3d 1037, 1048 (7th Cir. 1994) (quoting Ohio-Sealy Mattress Mfg. Co. v. Sealy Inc., 776 F.2d 646, 664 (7th Cir. 1985)). And the district court has an obligation

to "exclude from this initial fee calculation hours that were not 'reasonably expended'" on the litigation, including those that are "excessive, redundant, or otherwise unnecessary." Hensley, 461 U.S. at 434. III. DISCUSSION In its initial motion, Defendant requested that the Court order Plaintiff to pay $8,758.00 in fees for having to defend against Plaintiff's Motion to Compel and to file

the Motion for Fees. (Dkt. 140 at 3-4). In its supplement, Defendant requests an additional $3,768.00 for the time required to defend against Plaintiff's unsuccessful objection, for a total of $12,526.00 in attorney fees. (Dkt. 161 at 2-3). As a preliminary matter, Defendant maintains in its reply brief that Plaintiff failed to respond to its initial motion for fees and only responded to the supplemental motion for fees, thus making any of Plaintiff's arguments related to the initial motion untimely and appropriately deemed waived. (Dkt. 177 at 1-2). The Court ordered

Plaintiff to file a surreply addressing only this limited issue of timeliness and Plaintiff filed that surreply on March 6, 2023. (Dkt. 180). Plaintiff argues that Defendant's supplement was not, in fact, a supplement, but rather "a new, replacement motion" that incorporated all requested fees from the initial motion and included additional fees. (Id. at 2). Therefore, Plaintiff asserts, her deadline to respond was extended by the filing of that supplemental motion. The Court agrees. Although Defendant's second motion was titled "supplemental," it was in effect a new motion that requested a new total of attorney fees. See Brickstructures, Inc. v. Coaster Dynamix, Inc., 952 F.3d 887, 890 (7th Cir. 2020) ("But it is the substance of a

motion that counts, not its label."). Accordingly, the Court deems Plaintiff's response timely and will consider all arguments therein. The Court will now assess whether Defendant requests a reasonable fee. A. Hourly Rate In calculating the lodestar amount, the Court must multiply the hours reasonably expended on the litigation by a reasonable hourly attorney's rate.

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DOWNING v. SMC CORPORATION OF AMERICA, (S.D. Ind. 2023).

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